Everyone in the travel retail world knows the motto “by the trade, for the trade” and this fact alone should tell you why the not-for-profit Tax Free World Association (TFWA) simply can not fail. The association, which was formed in Paris during 1984 and has grown to be the largest duty free association and provides us with the major shows in Cannes, Singapore and the Middle East in addition to platforms such as the TFWA 365 and iLab.
A letter cited by the Moodie Davitt Report (link below) in March 2022 quoted returning TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen saying in relation to support for the forthcoming Cannes exhibition and the need for trade’s support that “it is no exaggeration to say that that the continued existence of TFWA will be under threat” … a quote no one believed they would read a few years ago and something the association must have said with a heavy heart.
We must support the association as its demise would be devastating for everyone involved and the end of shows in May, October and November would be huge detrimental to the smooth running of the travel retail business. I fully appreciate that attending shows in any capacity is not cheap but the calculation based on visiting each office that comes to you at the shows is significantly more expensive and this before the networking benefits are taken into account.
The calculation is simple when you add up the travel expense of visiting each client that visits you on your stand and then at least double, if not quadruple, the amount to take into account walk past business … and then see this is relation to a stand … it’s a no brainer !
JES Travel Retail attended the Cannes show in 2021 and the total expense, which we kept as low as possible given recent events, included the following :
- Meet 9 brand owners from 6 different countries that we hadn’t met before and with whom some are now discussing our travel retail consultancy packages ... of these 3 were unscheduled meetings.
- Worked on our Chilean clients booth for 3 days having now met them for the 1st time
- 2 meetings with 1 of my IBG co-founders from India
- Talking to 5 contacts from the travel retail press about budgets and planning for 2022
- "Bump into" around 15+ other contacts from shows gone by
- Enjoy some superb weather and great French cuisine.
I estimate that to have had this amount of business/networking without the benefit of a Cannes common denominator would have cost in excess of Euro 45.000,00 and taken 25+ days of travelling and overnight stays … it’s a no brainer that Cannes not only makes our life easier but is also a money saving exercise !
We at JES Travel Retail are 1 small cog in the global travel retail world but it is also our responsibility as part of “the trade” to support an association that we as an industry need. It is for this reason that we can announce a supplementary page to our website beginning in June 2022 which will be dedicated to the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, tips of attending the show based on our attendance since 1994 and updates on association news related to the show. We will also be providing a complimentary consultancy service to brands, retailers, distributors and agents that wish to attend the show but who have questions in advance with our consultancy partners, some of which have 20+ show visits each, being asked to participate in this gesture in the run up to the show.
Cannes, Singapore, MEADFA is our backbone whether you are a buyer, distributor, agent or any other member of the trade so please support the TFWA.
Click here to read the Moodie Davitt Report article.
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